Sunday, November 25, 2012

Is allowing FDI in multi-brand Retail good for the
country? What is the true impact of raising diesel prices or restricting LPG
subsidy on the people? Should telecom spectrum and coal mines be auctioned to the highest
bidder, or should they be allocated cheaply so that the price paid by the
ultimate consumer (for telephone services and electricity) is kept low? Should rail
fares be raised? Should the Central Bank reduce interest rates to stimulate
industry and make loans cheaper? Should the government act against airlines who
fleece passengers by charging exorbitant fares during peak season? Should the
government explicitly promote export oriented industries that earn precious
foreign exchange? Should cheap imports from countries like China
be banned to protect domestic industry? Is the government right in spending
thousands of crores on welfare schemes like MGNREGA? Questions such as these
are debated daily, and are of interest not only to politicians and bureaucrats
who decide on these, but also to citizens whose lives are affected.

How does one take a stand on all
these? How does one decide what is right and what is wrong? How does one assess
the impact of these decisions – beyond the immediate fallout that we can see
(such as, for example, that one would pay more for diesel if diesel prices are
raised)? Do these decisions have implications that are beyond the obvious? How
do we know what will work out best for us in the long run?

“Economics in One Lesson” by Henry Hazlitt is a remarkable book by any means. Written in such a simple
language that even a layman can understand, Hazlitt unravels the mysteries of
economic decisions and their long run effects on the health of the economy and welfare
in general. Hazlitt explains how markets work, how people behave, how
governments decide and what they do to the very people they seek to assist.
Hazlitt gives a framework that enables the reader to analyze the long run impact
of such decisions, including that which is not so obvious but nevertheless
very important.

Hazlitt's remarkable book should
be compulsory reading for all

The book is divided into twenty
five chapters, each dealing with a distinct topic such as taxation, effects of mechanization,
import tariffs, export promotion, government price fixing, inflation, and so
on. Hazlitt explains the basic principles underlying these actions and the
impact of these on the economic activity as a result. Hazlitt uncovers not only
that which is seen, but also that which
is not seen.
In Hazlitt’s own words, “The art of
economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer
effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that
policy not merely on one group but for all groups”

It is amazing how much ignorance
about economic issues is prevalent even among the policymakers today. Take
the following paragraph from the chapter on government price fixing, for
example. You might want to read it in the context of the current mess in India’s
Oil & Gas sector, but keep in mind that Hazlitt’s
small book was written in 1946!

Hazlitt writes, and I quote, “We cannot hold the price of any commodity
below its market level without in time bringing about two consequences. The
first is to increase the demand for that commodity. Because the commodity is
cheaper, people are both tempted to buy, and can afford to buy more of it. The
second is to reduce supply of that commodity. Because people buy more, the
accumulated supply is more quickly taken from the shelves of merchants. In
addition to this, production of that commodity is discouraged. Profit margins
are reduced or wiped out. Marginal producers are driven out of business….if we
did nothing else, therefore, the consequence of fixing a maximum price of a
particular commodity would be to bring about a shortage of that commodity. But
this is precisely opposite of what the government regulators originally wanted
to do…. Some of these consequences in time become apparent to the regulators,
who then adopt various other devices and controls in an attempt to avert them.
Among these devices are rationing, cost-control, subsidies and universal price
fixing.” Hazlitt then goes on to systematically demolish each of these.

As we all know, relying on the
promise of deregulation, billions of dollars were spent on all
stages of the oil & gas value chain in India, from exploration to refining to
pipelines to storage & distribution. But the country still doesn’t have enough
of what it needs. Most of the capacity in the private sector has been shut or is on the
verge of closure, the public sector survives on huge doles of support from tax
payer’s money. People don't have enough of what they want and the private
producers have all but fled, all because of faulty price fixing.

It is remarkable that such a
storehouse of knowledge can be crunched in such a small book and explained so
lucidly. This book should be compulsory reading
for all the lawmakers who decide our future, and for all of us who choose them.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

On 26th April 1986, The Times of India carried a
cartoon depicting a khadi-and-Gandhi-cap clad politician cautiously touching a sleeping tiger. The tiger roars back, taking the neta by
surprise. “He’s alive!”, the neta exclaims, while the common man watches
on. It was the story of the 1985 BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation, then) elections,
whose results had just been declared and a seemingly dormant Shiv Sena had
scored a surprise victory. A picture is worth a thousand words, and so was this
R.K.Laxman cartoon.

Though the Shiv Sena had been
formed nearly two decades earlier, it had largely remained on the periphery of
the State’s politics until then. With this victory in the BMC, the Sena saw a
strong resurgence, and Bal Thackeray quickly capitalized on it, swaying the local
Marathi youth, hit hard by the influx of migrants and the devastating textile strike by Datta Samant in 1982. The Sena has almost continuously controlled Mumbai since then,
and when in 1995, Manohar Joshi was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister
of Maharashtra; Thackeray’s power reached its peak. (The
term ‘remote control’ first came into political parlance with this very
arrangement)

Among his detractors, Bal Thackeray
evoked extreme reactions. His contempt for democracy, anti-Muslim rhetoric or
use of strong arm tactics made him a soft target of the pseudo-secular
intelligentsia. But there is one thing Bal Thackeray could never be accused of
– hypocrisy. Thackeray spoke what his heart said, and it was this very
forthrightness that endeared him to his masses.

Thackeray’s success came, not
because of, but in spite of, an unfriendly media. It has rarely been reported that
the Shiv Sena runs one of the largest ambulance networks in the country. Its
Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti provided jobs to hundreds of jobless youth in the
1980s and early 90s, literally pre-empting them from joining the underworld
during the heydays of Mumbai gang wars. At the peak of the Mandal Commission
controversy, when even the supposedly upper caste parties like the Congress and
the BJP dithered, Bal Thackeray launched a scathing attack on caste based reservations,
risking his political career, but staying true to the principles he believed in.
Long before Vajpayee’s Roads Revolution,
the Sena – BJP government built a network of more than 50 flyovers in the city,
without which city traffic would have come to a standstill today.

In later years, Thackeray tried
to expand his base outside Maharashtra, shedding his
pro-Marathi stance and embracing the Hindutva agenda. This earned him a large non-Marathi
following within Mumbai, but the Sena could not make any meaningful dent outside
Maharashtra.

Today, Thackeray leaves the Sena
in a precarious state. As corruption dominates the political discourse, the
Shiv Sena finds itself on a sticky wicket. Raj Thackeray’s MNS (Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena) has split his Marathi manoos voter base down the middle. How
Uddhav takes up these challenges remains to be seen.

While most of Maharashtra’s
politicians come from regions such as the Konkan, Vidarbha, Central
Maharashtra or the sugar belt, Thackeray was the only leading
political figure who had his roots in Mumbai. Till the very end, Thackeray remained in Mumbai,
trusting his life to doctors who belonged to the very faith he was accused of targeting.

He loved Mumbai and fought for
Mumbai. For this and this alone, Balasaheb Thackeray will be badly missed.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Calm and serene backwaters. Tender coconuts. Mouth-watering banana chips. The tempting aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Houseboats. Spices. Rare species of
birds. Kadla curry with Appam or Puttu. Pothole-free roads. Disciplined traffic. Long winding village names, which only the Mallus can spell and pronounce! Freshly fried fish. Karl Marx & Che
Guevara posters. Clean white
dhoti. Uttapa called as a Dosa, and Dosa simply as a plain ‘roast’! Served along with a Vada that you think is complimentary (till you get the bill, that is). A lake so large you think it is the sea. Mundum Neryathum, the unique two-piece sari. "Chinese" fishing nets, that actually use Portuguese technology, not Chinese!
Beautiful roadside bungalows. Picturesque inland waterways. Ancient "dembles" (!) mostly dedicated to Shiva, holding some of the world’s largest treasure
troves known to man. Thundering rains. A quite & peaceful life. Kerala is unique. Kerala
has so much to offer.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

History has it that Kamsa was a
cruel and unjust ruler of Mathura.
Kamsa was greedy and cunning, and imprisoned his father Ugrasena to become the
King of Mathura by deceit. Kamsa aspired to rule the world, and his frequent
war mongering left the peace loving people of Mathura
harassed and exploited. When he learnt that the eighth son of his sister Devaki
& Vasudev would kill him, Kamsa imprisoned them both and killed each of
their children as soon as it was born.

But the eighth son, Krishna,
survived.

It is said that when Krishna
was born, the doors of the prison where Devaki & Vasudev were kept opened
automatically, and the guards fell into a hypnotic sleep. It was midnight and raining heavily, but a Sheshnag
appeared from nowhere and protected Baby Krishna from the heavy rain. The
raging Yamuna calmed down almost by magic, and made way for Vasudev to pass to
the other side of the overflowing river. For the next few years, as Krishna
grew up in Gokula, Kamsa spent all his time searching for Krishna.
He lost his appetite and slept poorly at night. He could see his dream of
conquering the world fade away. He got obsessed with the thought of killing Krishna,
but all his attempts to assassinate Krishna went in
vain. The poisonous Putana could cause no harm, and Trinavarta, the ‘whirlwind’
demon was blown away. Arishta, Keshi, Kaliya and many others fell like ninepins
before the might and magic of Krishna. Krishna
was unstoppable, Krishna was unbeatable. Krishna
was the Supreme Being.Krishna was an idea whose time
had come.

Today, five thousand years later, India again awaits an idea
whose time has come.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

This story dates back more than a quarter of a century
ago. A 17-year old boy traveled by train from Madras
to Sangli, a small town in the heart of the sugar belt of Maharashtra.
In the train, the boy immersed himself in books on chess, playing out games
of champions of the past on a board spread out in front of him. An elderly
co-passenger, amused at the boy’s interest in the game, asked him if they
could play a game or two. The boy agreed, and it was soon clear to the
gentleman that his age and experience was no match to the boy’s talent at the
board. “What is your name? You play quite well!” asked the somewhat shaken gentleman, trying to salvage his bruised pride at having been beaten by a young
lad perhaps one-third his age. “My name is Anand”, came the reply, “I am the champion of the country”.

A young Vishwanathan Anand, at that time in 1986, was on his
way to the National Junior (Under-19) Chess Championships at Sangli, but he was
already a National Champion (seniors) then, having won the National Chess
Championship a year earlier at the age of 16. Needless to say, Anand won the Sangli Juniors
with ease, went to the World Junior Championship, won that too and in the
next few months, became the first Chess Grandmaster of the country.

The rest, as they say, is
history. But my intent here is not to profile Anand and his trophies, of which
there are many, as enough material is already available on the internet. Nor do I plan to write about the other qualities of this
exceptional gentleman, such as his extraordinary memory, amazing speed and
spotlessly clean character. Why then do I say that Anand is the greatest
sportsman this country has ever produced?

Vishwanathan Anand walks in for his game against Boris Gelfand in the World Chess Championships, Moscow 2012 (Photo Courtesy: www.chesstrainer.com)

Anand has spawned an industry. Thanks to Anand, the game has acquired the status of a 'sport' and become a household name in the country. Today, hundreds of eight-and-ten
year olds can be seen sitting across the board and fighting their wits in inter-school chess tournaments. A plethora of chess commentators, journalists, organizers
and coaches are able to make a comfortable living solely out of the game. The game has
been introduced in schools in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu,
while Punjab Government would be recruiting chess coaches, the newspaper
announced last week. The country now boasts of a
staggering 26 Grandmasters, 12 Women Grandmasters and an astonishing 76
International Masters of the game. When Anand started playing, India had no Grandmasters, and the number of International Masters was probably in single digits. India
now ranks 8th on the FIDE’s (World Chess Federation) ranking of
countries, a ranking based not just on Anand's strength but on the average strength of its top 10 players. This is far better than India’s
ranking in any other sport that is played in a large
number of nations and would make India a serious contender for a medal at any Chess Olympiad. India’s
success at chess is not restricted to Anand’s individual talent alone; it has
percolated down to the rank and file in the country. Clearly, Anand has elevated the
status of the game in the country of its origin, and this, to my mind, is
Anand’s biggest contribution to the game.

Before Anand burst on to the national scene, Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi, which portrayed chess in
none too flattering a fashion, dominated public memory of the game. Like that gentleman in the train, the game would evoke amusement & curiosity at best, and contempt at worst. A
chess player would be seen as a wayward maverick, who had lost his way
and was unable to do something more meaningful in life. Anand gave the game a respectability it deserved. Anand created benchmarks that are worthy of emulation.

As I drove home from office, an advertisement
announcing an upcoming chess tournament in the city played on the radio. As I listened to the ad, these were the thoughts that rankled in my mind….

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Bulgaria is a lovely little country of around 7
million people tucked away East of Europe. When I visited the country around 5
years ago, one of the things that struck me as remarkable was the complete
absence of any security apparatus anywhere in the country. Being used to the
intimidating presence of gun totting security guards, metal detectors and
frisking at every nook and corner of the country, the absence of a threat
perception among Bulgarians was astonishing.

When I checked into my rented apartment on
arriving in the country, my agent – an old lady probably in her fifties -
helped me to settle down and showed the place around. At one instance, I had
some difficulty understanding the strange locking system on the outer door of
my apartment, which she was trying to explain. After a few unsuccessful
attempts at teaching me how to lock & unlock the door, she politely said
that if I found I could not understand the lock, I could leave the door open
while going to office - no one would take anything! I looked at her in total
disbelief, but over the next few weeks realized she had really meant it.

Outside the President's Residence - the guards have gone home!

My office, at that time, was located right
in the front of the President’s Residence, in the heart of the capital citySofia. The majestic building stood there almost
discreetly, watching life go by. There would only be one security guard at the
gate who stood on duty for the entire building. He too would leave at6:00 PMin the evening and after that, there would
be no one! The National Assembly, which stood a stone’s throw away, looked
similarly commonplace. You could easily walk up the stairs or take photographs,
with no one even casting a glance at what you were doing. No rifle wielding commandos,
no cars flashing their red beacons, no VIP cavalcades bringing traffic to a
halt. It was clear to me that Bulgarians had no enemies, nothing to fear. Having
come out of the Iron Curtain, the country had at that time one of the highest
growth rates in Europe and was looking forward optimistically to joining the
European Union.

In fact, the only time I saw any security
presence in the country was when the then U.S. President George Bush visitedSofia. For his visit, some of the principal
roads in the city were cordoned off, traffic was diverted and there were
policemen all around. The night before Mr. Bush was due to arrive, as I walked
home late from office, a policeman stopped me and asked for my identity. After
showing him my papers and answering a few questions, I proceeded home. Clearly,
Mr. Bush had enemies, though the Bulgarians didn’t.

Last week, a powerfulbomb ripped across the coastal city ofBurgas in
Eastern Bulgaria, killing 5 Israeli tourists and injuring
many others. The tragic attack has shattered the peace and harmony of this beautiful
country. If the attack changes this permanently, it would be a sad day indeed.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

An Economics Professor at a local
University made a statement that he had never failed a single student before,
but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism
worked and with socialism, no one would be poor, and no one would be rich, a
great equalizer.

The professor then said, “Ok, we
will have an experiment in this class on the socialism principles. All grades
will be averaged, and everyone will receive the same grade, no matter how one
actually performs in the exam"

After the first test, the grades
were averaged, and everyone got a “B”. The students who studied hard were a upset,
and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled
around, the students who studied little studied even less, and the ones who had studied hard earlier took it easy too. The second test average was a “D”! No
one was happy. When the third test rolled around, the average was an “F”.

As the tests proceeded, the
scores never increased, as bickering, blame and name calling all resulted in
hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of others. By the end
of the year, all failed.

The professor told them that
socialism would ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to
succeed is great, but when the reward is not yours, no one will try or want to
succeed.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Long before India
started exporting spices or software, Ideas, Thought Leadership and Spirituality
were the earliest exports from India
to the world. The zero and the decimal system, which forms basis of the
numbering system that the world uses today, was invented in India.
Kautilya’s Arthashastra, written in the 4th Century BC, laid
down the principles of governance, public administration and taxation several
centuries before modern-day economics or political science was born. Wonders of
modern science, from aircrafts to surgeries have all been mentioned in ancient
Indian texts. Ayurveda holds the secrets of good health which modern day
researchers are trying to discover and patent. Sushruta’s Sushruta
Samhita, written in 800 BC mentions more than 300 surgeries, including the
likes of plastic surgery, cataract and caesarian section. The techniques of
Yoga and Meditation as key to a healthy body and a healthy mind are seeing resurgence
in the West.

Grand Buddha statue at the pagoda

One of the ideas that India
gave birth to, and were embraced by the world, were the teachings of Gautam Buddha. From Mongolia
in the North to Sri Lanka
in the South, and from South East Asia to Japan,
Buddhism is today the fourth largest religion in the World. Close to half a million
people in the world follow Buddha and his teachings as their principal
religious order.

Buddha taught that suffering is
an ingrained part of existence, but it is possible to end it by following the
right path. The right path, he said is the eight – fold noble path of right
view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right
effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Buddha said no teachings
should be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised
by the wise. Buddha held that two qualities are rare among humans: Katannuta that
is, Gratitude and Pubbakarita, which is, initiative to help others
without expecting anything in return. These two qualities are the true measure
of progress.

A grand
Pagoda, styled along traditional Burmese architecture, has come up in
Mumbai recently. The pagoda, built by the Global Vipassana Foundation seeks to spread the true teachings of Buddha and promotes the practice of Vipassana Meditation
that was said to have been practiced by Buddha himself.

The Pagoda claims to
contain the largest pillar-less dome structure in the World, 90 feet in
height and 280 feet in diameter. Built using 2.5 million tonnes
of stone and 3,000 truckloads of sand, the pagoda towers to a height of a 30-storey building. Underneath it is a huge meditation hall which
can accommodate 8,000 people at a time. It has been designed as a replica of Shwe Dagon
Pagoda of Myanmar.
Relics of Gautam Buddha are enshrined at the site. The entire complex,
apart from the main pagoda, contains several other structures such as an art
gallery, a library, two other smaller pagodas, an auditorium, a food court etc.
Exquisite samples of traditional Burmese architecture can be seen throughout
the campus. The art gallery contains stunning
paintings depicting the life of Gautam Buddha from birth to death. An excellent
facility, to listen to the story of each painting as you move along the
gallery, using a tape and earphones is available. This makes the visit to the gallery worthwhile and meaningful, as it enhances our understanding of the life of
Gautam Buddha and his teachings. The pagoda is located off the coast of Gorai, in Mumbai. Take a look some day.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

I have always been enchanted by
beaches. Every beach has something new to offer, something different. I find it
difficult to explain what it is – is it the water, the sand, the fresh breeze
or the sun? May be the clouds, or the trees around. There is always something new,
something different to see and experience. I wonder if there is a “beach
therapy” around. Going to a beach is
a medicine in itself. Nothing rejuvenates better than a visit to the beach.

So
when a friend suggested we go to Nagaon for the weekend, I was only too willing
to join. A few glimpses from my visit to Nagaon, which
incidentally must also be the cheapest water sports centre near Mumbai.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to
accept nomination of Rajya Sabha has come in for heavy criticism from the
public. Soon after the news was reported, the Twitter world went berserk, and hashtag
#UnfollowSachin was trending Worldwide. Opinion polls such as those on The Times of India website indicate three - fourth's of the people disapprove of the development. Media reactions were more restrained, trying
to balance criticism with respect for Sachin the cricketer. Journalists writing
in the print media used euphemistic tones, “cautioning” Sachin about the
“challenges” that lay ahead. The electronic media did what it does best – organize debates without adding anything of value. Political
reactions were of course, the worst, ranging from purely hypocritical to
downright ridiculous. The Communist Party of India (CPI), for instance, demanded
that Sourav Ganguly should also be nominated to the House, as if they are
building a cricket team in Parliament.

But is the pessimism surrounding
Sachin’s nomination justified?

Performance data of
Members of Parliament (MPs) is now available online. The data assesses performance
of all the MPs along parameters such as asking questions, participation in debates, including raising important issues, introduction of Private Member’s Bills and attendance in Parliament. I downloaded the data and looked
for how celebrities have done. Data indicates that performance of celebrities in
the current Lok Sabha is mixed, and generally ranges from poor to below
average.

Performance of celebrities in the
current Lok Sabha (till 31st
March 2012)

Jaya Prada, for example has recorded
only 32 percent attendance in Parliament, though has asked a lot of questions. Kirti Azad has been present in Parliament 92% of the time, but has scored slightly below
the national average in participation in debates and asking questions. Sidhu has
neither attended Parliament much nor taken part in debates, while Azharuddin
and Raj Babbar have been little more than spectators.

Of course, the above metrics may
not be perfect. For example, ‘attendance’ only means signing the Attendance
Register for the day and does not mean the member was present for the whole day
and listened with rapt attention to what was going on. There can also be other
parameters on which an MP can be judged, but this is the best data that is currently available.

In another article, The Times of
India has also drawn the similar conclusions about nominees to the Rajya Sabha,
though it only quotes the attendance record in its support.

Personally, there would be nothing wrong if Sachin Tendulkar is entering politics. In fact, Sachin can do a lot of good for
the country if he wants to, and only time will tell what he actually does. But
his accepting the post even before retiring from active cricket has certainly not gone down well the people. It indicates he treats the post merely as an ornamental one. The carefully orchestrated Bharat Ratna media campaign may also get punctured, as Sachin accepts a government largesse which is seen as significantly below his demi-God stature. And then, there is this whole issue of legality of his appointment.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Between July 2008 and today, the Indian Rupee
has lost 40 % of its value.

Talk about rising prices, and discussion in the media inevitably revolves around the Inflation Rate. The Finance
Minister talks about the Inflation Rate, so does the RBI Governor, the experts
on TV channels and journos from the print & electronic media – all you get to hear from them is the
Inflation Rate. Further, more often than not, they refer to the WPI (Wholesale Price
Index), while what matters to the people is the CPI
(Consumer Price Index). A meaningful analysis of how rising prices are hitting the venerated (just for namesake!) 'aam aadmi' is therefore, conspicuous by its absence. To understand why I say so, you first
need to know what the problem with the Inflation Rate is.

This is what they show you - falling inflation (click to enlarge)

The Inflation Rate shows the difference
between price of a commodity (or price index) over a period of one year. It
compares the current price of a commodity with its price at the same point of
time a year ago. So if the price of loaf of bread was Rs.20 exactly one
year back, and it is Rs. 22 today, we say inflation rate is 10 %. (Rs.2 over
Rs.20).

But the inflation rate completely ignores
prices more than one year away. If your perspective is long term, as it should
be, the current inflation rate will tell you nothing about how prices have risen over a longer period of time. If prices double in a
year, and remain where they are for another year, you will get an inflation rate of
zero, though over a two year period, prices would have gone up by almost 50 %
per annum. Therefore, while inflation rate has its uses, it is also
important to look at the actual price index itself, to get a proper perspective on prices. Unfortunately, the media, and their so-called experts are rarely interested in such finer details.

This is what the truth is - ever rising prices (click to enlarge)

Take a look at the news items, such as this or this or thisRarely will you find a mention of the actual price index. So I thought it would be worthwhile to see what was has happened to prices actually, rather than the inflation rate since July 2008. I used the Consumer Price Index (CPI),
and not the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), since that is what matters the most to the people. What I found out was what I told you in the
first sentence of this article – the Rupee has lost 40 % of its value in the
last three & half years. The CPI (IW) which was at 143 on 31st July, 2008 stood at
199 on 29th February, 2012, almost 40 % higher. What does this mean? In simple terms, what
ever Rs.100 could buy in July 2008 costs Rs.140 today.

Now, if you were to
adjust any of the current prices to this, you will get the real picture of
price increase / decrease during the period. Adjust Sensex or the Nifty to
this, and the indices which apparently have given a return of 24 % during this
period actually end up with a loss of 11% ! Even property price rise has been very modest (19 % in 3 & 1/2 years) while Gold has performed the best.

To assess the price performance of anything over the long term, you need to deflate it with the price level. That is when you will get the real picture.

Note: In 2011, the Government issued a new
series using 2010 as the base. As per the new series, the inflation rate is 9.45%
and 10.30% for Urban India in February and March 2012 respectively, even higher than
what the above figures indicate. For want of adequate history, I have used the
old series of CPI in my calculations above.